The Chairman of the Environmental Audit Committee (EAC) has
written to the Secretary of State at the Department for
Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) on the UK’s chemicals
strategy and the future of chemicals regulation.
The EAC has held two inquiries since 2016 that covered chemicals
regulation after Brexit. It heard concerns from the chemicals
industry that the Government had lacked clarity, particularly
around the practical regulatory steps it intended to put in place
to enable both the import from and export to the EU of chemicals
once the transition period ends.
The EAC understands that work on the Government’s new Chemicals
Strategy has been suspended due to coronavirus, delaying the
much-needed clarity and reassurance for industry.
Prior to the outbreak, the Government had announced its intention
to create its own independent regulatory regime, UK REACH
(Registration, Evaluation and Authorisation of Chemicals)
modelled on the EU-wide scheme of the same name. It is unclear
how the relationship would work between the UK and EU REACH, and
the Committee has expressed its concerns about regulatory
divergence, arrangements for businesses, UK regulator
responsibilities and access to databases.
As work on the Chemicals Strategy is delayed, the EAC is
requesting clarity on how the Government is using this time to
prepare businesses for a new regulatory framework, and any
guidance on whether the two-year window for new registrations for
UK REACH would be extended. Guidance is also sought on the level
of information required to register to UK REACH, with some
proprietary data held by EU-based companies, presenting
challenges to provide the full data package.
The Government has announced that the Health and Safety Executive
(HSE), alongside the Environment Agency and DEFRA, will be taking
over the functions of the European Chemicals Agency. The EAC has
previously recommended that the HSE should outline a formal role
in the substance evaluation process for the Committee on Toxicity
and the Hazardous Substances Advisory Committee, in addition to
establishing a forum for engaging with stakeholders and
suggesting specialists to feed into decision-making for chemicals
policy. The EAC is asking for an update on progress, and how the
HSE model will ensure consistency is maintained to ensure
environmental protection.
Environmental Audit Committee Chairman, MP, said:
“The chemicals industry in the UK is a success story,
pre-COVID19 supporting over 150,000 jobs and production climbing
year on year. We must make sure this continues post-Brexit. The
Committee is concerned that ongoing uncertainty for the sector
could damage access to vital chemicals for business following the
transition period.
“While the Government has made top-line announcements to
establish a UK REACH programme that replicates the EU REACH, and
steps for the HSE to mirror the work of the European Chemicals
Agency, we remain unclear how these will work in practice, and
want to ensure the same, high standards of environmental
protection will be maintained.”
The Committee is expecting a response from DEFRA by the end of
May.
Notes:
· All
correspondence is published on the Committee’s
website: https://committees.parliament.uk/committee/62/environmental-audit-committee/publications/3/correspondence/
